The consumer, labor and civil rights activists defending the CFPA say they’re unfazed by the industry’s intense opposition and the lack of progress their own coalition made over August.

“I’m not concerned at all,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for U.S. PIRG, a member of the formal activist coalition pushing CFPA. “The [financial] industry is still pushing uphill. They scored the first points in the game, [but] it’s a long game.”

The consumer groups say they are more organized than ever before. They usually work via informal coalitions, but this time more than 200 consumer, labor and civil rights organizations have teamed up in a formal alliance, calling themselves Americans for Financial Reform.

Launched in June, the coalition has a $5 million budget and field organizers on the ground in about 16 states, corresponding to the home states of members on the key Senate and House committees.

The coalition’s efforts are in part directed outside the Beltway, aimed at keeping alive the populist anger against Wall Street. That grass-roots fury, the thinking goes, will provide the momentum Congress needs to resist Big Business lobbying and pass pro-consumer reforms.

“Look for more in the fall,” said Mierzwinski. August was never supposed to be a one-shot battle for the group but, rather, a period of deployment, he said.

Supporters of the consumer watchdog dismiss those who say the sense of crisis that fueled the populist backlash against Wall Street is dissipating as the economy improves and other policy issues dominate congressional attention.

“We still think that there’s a lot of attention,” said coalition spokeswoman Lauren Weiner, citing the Chamber’s big advertising push as proof that there’s “momentum” for reform.

A poll commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America, another coalition member, found that a majority of those polled support the creation of “a new federal agency to protect consumers who purchase banking and other financial services.” It also found high levels of dissatisfaction with current practices of banks and other financial institutions.

Miller counts himself among the dissatisfied.

“Even if we get paid back every penny and we make money on the rescue of large financial institutions, I deeply resent having to do it. and I never want to do it again — and I think that’s what most Americans think,” he said.

As for the lobbying efforts from the industry, he said: “There are certainly some Democrats who get skittish when lobbyists oppose anything. And it’s the job of Mr. Frank and me and others who are advocating for it to make the case.”

Readers' Comments (16)

This is another case where the billion-dollar corporations will fight to keep their privilege. We've just gone through a time when big bankers and corporation executives got wildly rich while ordinary people were unemployed, lost health care, homes and retirement. This inequity needs to be brought back in balance. We need reasonable financial regulations.

Gibbs said Obama, who is preparing to deliver a major speech on the economy in New York on Monday, will not be deflected from his top priority domestic goal of overhauling the broken US health care system.

"I think what the American people want most of all... is for Washington to put aside the game playing and start to begin to solve the very big problems that our country faces," he told CNN television.

"I know that's what the president believes he was elected to do. And I think it would be a good start to deal with health care."

President Obama needs to get his priorities straight. The economy needs his immediate attention. Healthcare is not top priority to the American people. This is not a game! People are suffering financially and cannot afford to deal with Obamacare at the moment. If the economy is not fixed first, Americans will not be able to even afford the cheap public option!

Too few have too much. Corps pay less than the 35% taxes due, CEOs make their average employees YEARLY salary DAILY and defer it to avoid the tax.

Our government needs to collect what is owed' put a salary cap of $5 million/year - anything over that amount should be taxed at 90%; and, quit needless spending - escpecially Earmarks.

The way this can happen is when WE THE PEOPLE wake up and FIRE ALL OF CONGRESS for gross inmcompetence for allowing this to happen on the first place.

We have tried replacing Dems with Reps and back again => "Piecemeal" doesn't work. WE THE PEOPLE need to VOTE OUT ALL these money grubbers masquerading as representative of the people and replace them with fresh faces to fix the problems they have created over the last 30 years.

The melt down that has taken place in Wall Street is the result of dishonesty and recklessness. In addition, those in charge of monitoring and protecting our financial systems failed to do their jobs. Certainly, additional controls will help protect the stability of our capitalist system. However, both Congress and the White House failed to perform their duties. The poor oversight of Fanny and Freddie is clearly the failing of Congress and particularly Barney Frank. The SEC and other government bodies also failed. Consider Bernie Madoff. The fraud had be going on for years and the Federal Government had been warned many times.

We have laws, upon laws upon laws. While a few new laws may help a bit, the complete lack of enforcement of the laws is the fundamental problem. What good are laws withou real enforcement and oversight?

Citizens must take action to push Congress to investigate the negligence and/or malfeasance to deny citizens access to an impartial court to sue Security Exchange Commission, and other regulators for their negligence during the past 30 years.

Irrespective of one being either a Republican, Democrat, Liberal, all citizens must push to make the government accountable for malfeasance by the usurpation of power by the Judicial Branch in collusion with government attorneys.

This is a “legal” issue which Congress must investigate and review because it is obvious that our Republic cannot survive evidence of the unbridled tyranny and cronyism of government attorneys and judges use of secretive meetings to usurp power, and then surreally placed themselves above and beyond the law by unilaterally declaring themselves absolutely immune from suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act or accountability under civil RICO.

To underscore the need for Congressional review, recall the sorry acts of German judges, lawyers, and law schools that aided the NAZI’s to power. The evidence is that, “[b]y the time the gas vans came and the human slaughter factories were built in Auschwitz and the other death camps, the murder of the six million Jews and other persecuted minorities was done completely within the framework of German law.” Yad Vshem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority, 2004.

Court records provide evidence that by abuse of the Rules Enabling Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2072(b); the Judicial Conference of the United States Act, 28 U.S.C. § 331; and the Judiciary Act of 1925 at 43 Stat. 936 (providing for “discretionary appellate jurisdiction”), the Judicial Branch in collusion with the U.S. Department of Justice have deprived me access to an impartial court and civil jury trial in retaliation for litigating to enforce my statutory rights as a father and independent federal civil litigator (http://www.liamsdad.org/other... and for petitioning Congress to oppose the confirmation of Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Attorney General Eric Holder (http://home.earthlink.net/~is...

Query, if I with more than 35 years of federal trail/appellate civil litigation experience can be targeted by the government and courts for petitioning Congress and litigating to exercise my federal statutory rights as a father and to stop malfeasance--what is either layman father or an inexperience attorney to do to protect their rights against the government and courts? (See, http://home.earthlink.net/~mal...

Citizens must take action to push Congress to investigate the negligence and/or malfeasance to deny citizens access to an impartial court to sue Security Exchange Commission, and other regulators for their negligence during the past 30 years.

Irrespective of one being either a Republican, Democrat, Liberal, all citizens must push to make the government accountable for malfeasance by the usurpation of power by the Judicial Branch in collusion with government attorneys.

This is a “legal” issue which Congress must investigate and review because it is obvious that our Republic cannot survive evidence of the unbridled tyranny and cronyism of government attorneys and judges use of secretive meetings to usurp power, and then surreally placed themselves above and beyond the law by unilaterally declaring themselves absolutely immune from suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act or accountability under civil RICO.

To underscore the need for Congressional review, recall the sorry acts of German judges, lawyers, and law schools that aided the NAZI’s to power. The evidence is that, “[b]y the time the gas vans came and the human slaughter factories were built in Auschwitz and the other death camps, the murder of the six million Jews and other persecuted minorities was done completely within the framework of German law.” Yad Vshem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority, 2004.

Court records provide evidence that by abuse of the Rules Enabling Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2072(b); the Judicial Conference of the United States Act, 28 U.S.C. § 331; and the Judiciary Act of 1925 at 43 Stat. 936 (providing for “discretionary appellate jurisdiction”), the Judicial Branch in collusion with the U.S. Department of Justice have deprived me access to an impartial court and civil jury trial in retaliation for litigating to enforce my statutory rights as a father and independent federal civil litigator (http://www.liamsdad.org/other... and for petitioning Congress to oppose the confirmation of Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Attorney General Eric Holder (http://home.earthlink.net/~is...

Query, if I with more than 35 years of federal trail/appellate civil litigation experience can be targeted by the government and courts for petitioning Congress and litigating to exercise my federal statutory rights as a father and to stop malfeasance--what is either layman father or an inexperience attorney to do to protect their rights against the government and courts? (See, http://home.earthlink.net/~mal...

Citizens must take action to push Congress to investigate the negligence and/or malfeasance to deny citizens access to an impartial court to sue Security Exchange Commission, and other regulators for their negligence during the past 30 years.

Irrespective of one being either a Republican, Democrat, Liberal, all citizens must push to make the government accountable for malfeasance by the usurpation of power by the Judicial Branch in collusion with government attorneys.

Does anyone believe that our trillion dollar budget deficits are not going to bankrupt our country?

Does anyone doubt that providing health care for retired baby boomers isn't going to bankrupt our country and our children? As a baby boomer, I'm wondering how long it will take the younger generations to pull the plug on health care for my generation. I'm also wondering if pulling the plug might be the best thing for America.

Back in 2000 when Bush and Gore were arguing over how best to spend the budget surplus, the Congressional Budget Office published a report on the long term budget outlook. The report indicated that even if every penny of the federal budget surpluses were saved, then the retirement of the baby boom generation would still push the federal government into a position of "unsustainable debt" if major cuts are not made in the social security and medicare programs. As a result of the Republican mismanagement of the federal budget during the Bush years, that position of "unsustainable debt" has been greatly accelerated.

There is an easy solution. After retirement, the purpose of health care should be to maintain quality of life but not to extend the length of life. If America can ask our kids to go to war to sacrifice their lives for our country, then why can't we ask retired seniors to offer the same? Do we really want to live into our 80's if doing so will bankrupt our children and grandchildren?

As a baby boomer, I look at the federal debt that has been created during the years when my generation has been in power, and I have to ask how much more we should ask from our children. After creating so much debt for our children to pay off, should we also ask for unlimited health care into our 90's? I don't think so. If we are going to ask our children to pay our debts and fight our wars, the least that we can do is to not also demand that they pay to extend the lives of baby boomers for another 30 years after retirement. How much can one generation demand?

I recently read that California is paying tens of thousands of dollars per month to help Susan Atkins fight brain cancer in prison as she serves her life sentence for the murder of Sharon Tate and other victims of the Manson murders. Why do we pay even one penny to extend the life of a person that has been convicted of murder? Does it make any sense at all for California to spend a penny to extend the lives of people that are sentenced to life in prison? Wouldn't it make more sense to treat cancer patients in prison by shortening their lives? We do the same for our pets, and I'm sure that we value our pet's lives far more than the lives of convicted murders such as Susan Atkins or Charles Manson. Does any murderer deserve better health care than what we provide for our pets? I'm not sure.

The biggest challenges to any reform on Wall Street are Schumer, Dodd, & Rangel. Why? because that's where they get the bulk of their money from. You'll see a great smokescreen from them but everytime a Wall Street firm declares a profit or bonuses, The Liberal dems have already calculated how much they're "entitled" to.

Do you really wonder why Dodd put those AIG bonuses back into the bill after he supposedly took them out? Do you think Corzine is really spending his personal money on his campaign?

The biggest challenges to any reform on Wall Street are Schumer, Dodd, & Rangel. Why? because that's where they get the bulk of their money from. You'll see a great smokescreen from them but everytime a Wall Street firm declares a profit or bonuses, The Liberal dems have already calculated how much they're "entitled" to.

Do you really wonder why Dodd put those AIG bonuses back into the bill after he supposedly took them out?

Let's see, support a President in whom there is no trust whatsoever to protect us from the financial industry in whom there is minimal trust? For those who recognize the role of government, especially the socialist wing represented by Obama, Frank, Acorn, and company in bringing down our financial system, there is no question at all - keep Obama's hands off the financial system and, for that matter, everything else.

Wall Street Banks hold these percentages of shares in Health Insurance giants and are increasing shares by the tens of millions

United 77.32%

WellPoint 79.04%

Aetna 79.45%

CIGNA Corp. 68.71%

Coventry Health 82.25%

Health Net Inc. 79.37%

Wall Street is the enemy. Can we afford another bailout for these people and their bonus structure!

precisely why knee jerk reactions to wall street are dangerous- do you own a 401k? invest in mutual funds in the health care industry? you can't have it both ways...

i think the president was spot on today in his address as to proposed regulations. i'd be even happier if he said he would seek to repeal Gramm Leach Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 the act proposed by three republicans clinton signed into law repealing the glass steagall act.

Sep. 14, 2009 - 10:40 AM ESTThe melt down that has taken place in Wall Street is the result of dishonesty and recklessness. In addition, those in charge of monitoring and protecting our financial systems failed to do their jobs. Certainly, additional controls will help protect the stability of our capitalist system. However, both Congress and the White House failed to perform their duties. The poor oversight of Fanny and Freddie is clearly the failing of Congress and particularly Barney Frank. The SEC and other government bodies also failed. Consider Bernie Madoff. The fraud had be going on for years and the Federal Government had been warned many times.

We have laws, upon laws upon laws. While a few new laws may help a bit, the complete lack of enforcement of the laws is the fundamental problem. What good are laws withou real enforcement and oversight?

Well, at least you are willing to put at least some of the blame where it should be. Let's talk about giving people loans they could not afford and then, Barnie being the cheerleader for reckless disregard when it came to risk. This man knows nothing about running a financial institution but he was dictating loans for folks without jobs, no downpayment, and no way to pay for the house they bought. You want to know where this crisis in banking happened, look to the democrats in Washington and a couple of democratic presidents who thought everyone was entitled to own a house even if they couldn' afford it (but Obama fixed that heah...he decided the taxpayers should buy them one). The banks weren't the problem since most of them run for profit business' and the government only runs things that need to be subsidized (even if they start out profitable...pretty soon the do gooders will fix it so it is not longer profitable and the tax payer takes the hit for it).

Too few have too much. Corps pay less than the 35% taxes due, CEOs make their average employees YEARLY salary DAILY and defer it to avoid the tax.

Our government needs to collect what is owed' put a salary cap of $5 million/year - anything over that amount should be taxed at 90%; and, quit needless spending - escpecially Earmarks.

The way this can happen is when WE THE PEOPLE wake up and FIRE ALL OF CONGRESS for gross inmcompetence for allowing this to happen on the first place.

We have tried replacing Dems with Reps and back again => "Piecemeal" doesn't work. WE THE PEOPLE need to VOTE OUT ALL these money grubbers masquerading as representative of the people and replace them with fresh faces to fix the problems they have created over the last 30 years.

I take exception to part of your rant on those who earn high incomes. I don't suppose you understand that what you are suggesting violates the constitution that clearly states everyone in this country be taxed at the same rate (which Obama just ignores cause he knows so much better than the guys that put their lives on the line to protect us from people like Obama). So, for example, you make 30,000, you pay 1% or 300.00 or you make 300,000 and you pay 3,000. You can see that the high income earner is definitely paying quite a bit more? (and that is fair unlike your socialist plan to put more burdens on the successful than the unsuccessful and try leveling everything out so the American dream is dead.............and who are you to say what someone should be able to earn anyway? or even better should our millionaire president be telling someone what they can earn and where in the constitution does it give him a right to?).

I do agree with you about getting a clean sweep in Washington and starting over again with a group that sign in blood and on their children's lives that they will not violate or try to change the constitution. They can handle the military and the interstate highway system and leave the states the rest. The folks in Washington are not good stewards of the taxpayer money and should not be given any more of it to waste than than we possibly have to give them to keep life and limb together. And, they should all be paid at the state level with raises appearing on the ballot for people to vote on along with any other benefits they receive. No more giving themselves something so much better than the taxpayer that they think they are "TOO" special.